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Video: Pitching the stimulus

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Thank you so much. Well, listen. Everybody can have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. We�re going to be here a while. It is good to be back in
Elkhart
.

And it�s good to be back in
Indiana
. You know, the last event we had of the campaign was
Indiana
. And the first time that
I�m
traveling outside of the
White House
to talk about the
economy
is back in
Indiana
.

I want to start by thanking
Ed
for coming here today and sharing his family�s story with all of us.
Ed
was terrific. Give him a big round of applause.

There are a few other special guests that I just want to acknowledge very quickly, first of all, your own senator, my former colleague, an outstanding legislator and public servant, former governor here in
Indiana
. Give it up for Senator
Evan Bayh
.

Where is he? Where is
Evan
? There he is.

A guy you may be familiar with, your own member of
Congress
,
Joe Donnelly
.

We brought a few other members of
Congress
here to get in on the fun: Representative Baron
Hill
, Representative
Brad Ellsworth Representative Fred Upton Representative Andre Carson
former Representative
Tim Roemer�

� former Representative
Lee Hamilton
.

We�ve got Mayor
Dick Moore
of
Elkhart
.

And we�ve got the new secretary of transportation, former member of
Congress
from my own home
state of Illinois
,
Ray LaHood
.

I don�t know if you guys have been noticing, but we�ve had a
little
debate in
Washington
over the last week or two about the
economy
. You know, we tend to take the measure of the
economic crisis
we face in numbers and statistics. But when we say that we�ve lost 3.6
million
jobs since this recession began, nearly 600,000 in the past month alone, when we say that this area has lost jobs faster than anywhere else in the
United States of America
, with an
unemployment rate
of over 15 percent when it was 4.7 percent just last year, when we talk about layoffs in companies like
Monaco Coach
and
Keystone RV
and Pilgrim
International
, companies that have sustained this community for years, we�re not just talking numbers. We�re talking about
Ed.
We�re talking about the people in the audience here today, people not just in
Elkhart
, but all across this
country
. We�re talking about people who�ve lost their livelihood and don�t know what will take its place. We�re talking about parents who�ve lost their
health care
and lie awake at night praying their kids don�t get sick. We�re talking about families who�ve lost the home that was the corner, their foundation for their
American dream
,
young people
who put that college acceptance letter back in the envelope because they just can�t afford it. That�s what those numbers and statistics mean. That is the true measure of this
economic crisis
. Those are the stories I heard when I came to
Elkhart
six months ago, and those are the stories that I carried with me to the
White House
. I have not forgotten them. And I promised you back then that, if elected,
I�d
do everything I could to help this community recover, and that�s why I came back today, because I intend to keep my promise.

I intend to keep my promise. But, you know, the work is going to be hard. I don�t I don�t want to lie to people, and that�s why we�re having a
town hall meeting
. Because the situation we face could not be more serious. We have inherited an
economic crisis
as deep and as dire as any since the
Great Depression
. Economists from across the spectrum have warned that, if we don�t act immediately, millions of more jobs will be lost. The national unemployment rates will approach
double digits
, not just here in
Elkhart
, all across the
country
. More people will lose their homes and their
health care
. And our nation will sink into a crisis that at some point we may be unable to reverse. So we can�t afford to wait. We can�t wait and see and hope for the best. We can�t posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us into this mess in the first place.

That was what this election was all about: The
American people
rejected those ideas because they hadn�t worked.

You didn�t send us to
Washington
because you were hoping for more of the same; you sent us there to to change things, the expectation that we would act quickly and boldly to carry out change, and that�s exactly what I intend to do as president of the
United States of America.

That�s why I put forth a
recovery
and reinvestment plan that is now before
Congress
. At its core is a very simple idea: to put
Americans
back to work doing the work
America
needs to be done.
Ed Ed
said it better than anybody could. He said, look,
folks
in
Elkhart
, they want to work. Nobody�s looking for a handout. Everybody just wants to be able to get a job that supports a family. And we�ve got the most productive workers on
Earth
.

We�ve got the best workers right here in
Elkhart
, who are willing to put in
hard time
and do whatever it takes to make sure a company succeeds, but they�ve got to have a chance. The plan that we�ve put forward will save or create 3
million
to 4
million
jobs over the next two years, but not just any jobs, jobs that meet the needs we�ve neglected for far too long, jobs that lay the groundwork for long-term
economic growth
, jobs fixing our schools and computerizing our
medical records
to save
costs
and save lives, jobs repairing our roads and our bridges and our levees, jobs investing in
renewable energy
to help us move towards
energy independence
.

The plan also calls for immediate tax relief for 95 percent of American workers, so that you, who are being pinched, even if you still have a job, with rising
costs
while your wages and incomes are flat-lined, you�ll actually have a
little
bit of extra
money
at the end of the month to buy the necessities for you and your children. Now, I know that some of you might be thinking, �Well, all that sounds good. But when are we going to see any of this here in
Elkhart
? What does all this mean to my family, to my community?� And those are exactly the kinds of questions you should be asking your president and your government, and today I want to provide some answers. And I want to be as specific as I can.
Number
one, this plan will provide for extended
unemployment insurance
,
health care
, and other assistance for workers�

� other assistance for workers and families who�ve lost their jobs in this recession. So if you�ve lost your job, for example, under existing law, you can get
COBRA
some of you have heard of
COBRA
but the only problem is, it�s so expensive, it doesn�t do you any good.

So what we�ve said is what we�ve said is, we will help subsidize people so they can keep at least keep their
health insurance
while they�re out there looking for a new job. This plan will also and what this
means
is, from the perspective of
unemployment insurance
, you will have an additional $100 per month in
unemployment benefits
that will go to more than 450,000 Indiana workers, extended
unemployment benefits
for another 89,000
folks
who�ve been laid off and can�t find work, and job training assistance to help more than 51,000 people here get back on their feet. Now, that�s not just our moral�

That�s not just our
moral responsibility
to lend a
helping hand
to our fellow
Americans
at a time of emergency. It makes good economic sense. If you don�t have
money
, you can�t spend it. And if you don�t spend it, our
economy
will continue to decline. Now, for that same reason, the plan includes badly needed tax relief for middle-class workers and families.

Folks
all across the
country
are under siege. We need to give you more of the
money
you�ve earned so that you can spend it and pay your bills. Under our plan, families
working families
will get $1,000, providing relief for nearly 2.5
million
workers and their families here in
Indiana
. The plan also will provide a partially refundable $2,500-per-student
tax credit
to help 76,000 Hoosier families send their kids to college.

This will benefit your household budgets in the short run and will benefit
America
in the long run. But providing tax relief and college assistance and helping
folks
who�ve lost their jobs, that�s not enough. A real
recovery plan
helps create more jobs and put people back to work. And that�s why, between the investments our plan makes and the tax relief for
small businesses
it provides, we�ll create or save nearly 80,000 badly needed jobs for
Indiana
right here over the next couple of years. Now, you may have heard some of the critics of our plan say it would create mostly
government jobs
. That is not true: 90 percent more than 90 percent of the jobs created under this
recovery
act will be in the
private sector
, more than 90 percent. But it�s not just�

It�s not just the jobs that will benefit
Indiana
and the rest of
America
; it�s the work people will be doing, rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our dams, our levees, roads like
U.S. 31
here in
Indiana
that
Hoosiers
can count on�

� that connect small towns and
rural communities
to opportunities for
economic growth
. And I know that a new overpass downtown would make a big difference for businesses and families right here in
Elkhart
. We�ll also we�ll also put people to work rebuilding our schools. This school is a terrific school, but I know there�s work to be done here. We should do it so that all our children can have the world-class classrooms, the labs, the libraries that we they need in order to
compete
in today�s
global economy
.

We should be investing in clean alternative sources of
energy
. We should be investing in the
electric grid
we need to transport this new
energy
from coast to coast, so if you build a windmill here in
Indiana
and it generates
energy
, that
energy
can get to
Chicago
and can get to
St. Louis
and can get to other places all across the
country
.

We can help make
Indiana
an
energy
-producing
state
, not just an
energy
-consuming
state
.

The plan calls for weatherizing homes
across Indiana
, installing
state
-of-the-art equipment that help you control your
energy costs
, building new high-speed broadband lines reaching schools and
small businesses
in rural
Indiana
so they can connect and
compete
with their counterparts in any city of any
country
in the world.

Those those are the kinds of projects that we�re looking at that put people to work, that allow us to train people for jobs that pay a
living wage
, and that end up being a gift that keeps on giving, because not only are we creating jobs now, but we�re creating the infrastructure for the jobs of the future. Now now, let me be clear.
I�m
not going to tell you that this bill is perfect. It�s coming out of
Washington
; it�s going through
Congress
.

You know, look, it�s not perfect, but it is the right size, it is the right scope, broadly speaking it has the right priorities to create jobs that will jump-start our
economy
and transform this
economy
for the
21st century
. I I can�t I can�t tell you with 100 percent certainty that every single item in this plan will work exactly as we hoped. But what I can tell you is, I can say with complete confidence that endless delay or paralysis in
Washington
in the face of this crisis will only bring deepening disaster. I can tell you that doing nothing is not an option.

So we�ve had a good debate. Now it�s time to act. That�s why
I�m
calling on
Congress
to pass this bill immediately.
Folks
here in
Elkhart
and all across
America
need help right now. They can�t afford to keep waiting for
folks
in
Washington
to get this done. Even with this plan, the road ahead won�t be easy. This crisis has been a long time in the making; we�re not going to turn it around overnight.
Recovery
will likely be measured in years, not weeks or months. But we also know that our
economy
will be stronger for generations to come if we commit ourselves to the work that needs to be done, commit ourselves today to the work that needs to be done. And being here in
Elkhart
, I am more confident than ever that we will get where we need to be, because I know people are struggling, but I also know that
folks
here are good workers and good neighbors who step up, who help each other out, who make sacrifices when times are tough.

I know that all
folks
here are asking for is a chance to work hard and to have that work translate into a decent life for you and your family. So I know you�re going to be doing your part; I think it�s about time the government did its part, too. That�s what this
recovery plan
�s all about. That�s why I hope it passes as soon as possible, so we can start creating jobs and helping families and turning our
economy
around. Thank you,
Elkhart
. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right, we�re going to take questions. All right, well, just want to make sure my mike�s working here. Here�s the deal on questions. First of all, we didn�t screen anybody, so there�s some people who like me in the audience, some people that don�t, some people agree with me, some people who don�t. It doesn�t matter. We want to take questions from everybody. Here�s the only thing
I�ve
got to ask, though. I would ask that everybody raise their hand not not right now. People who have a question, raise your hand. We�re going to try to call on people.
I�m
going to try to go around the room. We may not get to every single question, so don�t be mad at me. We�ve got a lot of people here. We�ve got about about 35 minutes, 40 minutes, so
I�m
going to try to get as many questions as possible, which
means
try to keep your question relatively succinct and I will try to keep my answer relatively succinct. We�ve got
young people
in the audience who have microphones, so wait until the microphone gets to you. And if you can introduce yourself, that will be helpful. And the last thing
I�m
going to do is
I�m
going to go girl, boy, girl, boy, so that nobody gets mad at me, all right? This
young lady
right here. She�s she�s
number
one, right here. Thank you,
President Obama
. We welcome you to
Elkhart
with our whole heart. Thank you. And we�re just we�re so grateful that you�ve come here today. Thank you. My question to you is, sir, when you allocate the
money
for
Elkhart
,
Indiana
, will it come directly into
Elkhart
? Or where is it going to have to go around
somewhere else
? Well, first of all, what�s your name? My name is
Helen Castello
. OK, thank you,
Helen
. It�s a good question. Look, we�ve got to get the bill passed, but we also have to make sure that the
money
is well spent, which
means
we�re doing some things that are unprecedented to make sure that the
money
gets out quickly, but it gets out wisely. We�re going to set up an independent board made up of
Democrats
and
Republicans
to review how the
money
is being spent, because we�ve got to make sure that it�s not being wasted on somebody�s special project that may not actually create help for people. So that�s point
number
one. Point
number
two is we�re actually going to set up something called
recovery
.gov. This is going to be a special
Web site
that we set up that gives you a report on where the
money
�s going in your community, how it�s being spent, how many jobs it�s being created, so that all of you can be the eyes and ears. And if you see that a project is not working the way it�s supposed to, you�ll be able to get on that
Web site
and say, �You know, I thought this was supposed to be going to school construction, but all I haven�t noticed any changes being made.� And that will help us track how this
money
�s being spent. Now, in
terms
of how it�s how it�s being utilized and who it�s going to, it�s probably going to depend on different aspects of the plan. Some of the plan will go to the
state
government, because, for example well, let me give you an example.
Unemployment insurance
is is run through the
state
, not run through a city. And so that part of the plan will be going through the
state
. There are going to be other projects having to do with transportation, for example, in which we may be working directly with
local municipalities
and communities, as well as the
state
government, to make sure that the project is well planned. And that�s why we�ve got Secretary
LaHood
here, because he�s going to be working with the
local communities
. Same is true on education funding. We may be working directly with the school superintendent, who I know is here, to figure out, where are the schools that are in most need of help and where we can right away get some construction going and get some improvements going. So it will probably depend on what what stream of
money
we�re talking about. But the key is, we�re going to have strong oversight and strong transparency to make sure that this
money
is well spent. And, listen, I know that there are a lot of
folks
out there who�ve been saying, �Oh, this is pork, and this is
money
that�s going to be wasted,� and
et cetera
,
et cetera
. Understand, this bill does not have a single earmark in it, which is unprecedented for a bill of this size, does not have a single earmark in it.

So so we may we may debate we can debate, you know, whether you�d rather have this
tax cut
versus that
tax cut
or this project versus that project. Be clear, though, that there aren�t there aren�t individual pork projects that members of
Congress
are putting into this bill. Regardless of what the critics say, there are no earmarks in this bill. That�s part of the change that we�re bringing to
Washington
, is making sure that this
money
is well spent to actually create jobs right here in
Elkhart
. All right? OK. Gentleman up there, all the way at the top. You, that�s right.

But but hold on a second. Let�s get a mike to him. All right. Thank you. I also want to just be very thrilled to be in the presence of you, because we�ve been looking for a change. We are truly tired of the economic stuff we have been getting that has got us into the position that we�re in. That theory has been a trickle down; we need to trickle up.

So I would hope, in in in your philosophy of trying to kick-start the
economy
, that the
money
is directed to the people who are have homes that are foreclosed, the people that have lost jobs. To try to give it to a bank and give a low
interest rate
and the person whose home is being foreclosed on don�t have a job don�t help anybody. It�s it�s a sale that nobody can take advantage of because you ain�t got no
money
.

So I would hope and I pray that you would support the people who got you into the office, we the people not the
fat cats
, we the people to whereas that the
money
is directly into the hands of the people who are hurting, to whereas we don�t have to worry about going to the
state
, going to the
federal government
, standing in line somewhere. Send that check to our mailbox.

Amen. Amen.

Let me let me let me respond. So we can take it to the bank and pay that mortgage. Thank you. Let me let me let me can everybody hear me? Testing.
Hello, hello
, hello? Can you hear me now? Hold on a second. Testing, testing. How�s that? All right. The well, let me let me respond in a couple of ways.
Number
one, when it comes to
tax cuts
, you are exactly right, that, instead of providing
tax cuts
to the
wealthiest Americans
, what
I�ve
been pushing in this plan is to make sure that the
tax cuts
goes to
working families
. That is not only good for those families; it�s actually good for the
economy
. Because when you give a
tax break
to
working families
who are struggling, they will spend it on buying a new coat for the kids or making sure that, you know, that they get that car repaired that they use to get to work. When you give it to the wealthier families, they just put it away somewhere and so it doesn�t circulate into the
economy
. So
tax cuts
targeted to
working families
are the most effective
means
of stimulus that we can provide to the
economy
. Now, you�re making another point, though, that has to do with a separate part of what we�re going to need to get this
economy
moving again, and that has to do with the
financial system
and the
banking system
. And I just want to be clear that the
Recovery
and
Reinvestment Act
that is before
Congress
right now is just one leg in the stool of
recovery
. The other thing that we�ve got to get done is we�ve got to get the banks stable and lending again. Part of what�s happened in
terms
of the
R.V.
industry, for example I was talking to Congressman
Donnelly
about this is basically people who want to buy an
R.V.
can�t get financing right now, even if they�ve got good credit. So what we�re going to be trying to do is to set up a whole new mechanism for helping people get
consumer credit
. We�re going to help
small businesses
and medium-sized businesses get credit. And instead of just pumping that
money
directly into
Wall Street
, we�re going to make sure that a lot of that
money
is going directly to consumers and the
money
that does go in to
Wall Street
is going to come with some strings attached. You cannot you cannot you cannot expect taxpayers to bail out banks that have made bad decisions when they are then using that
money
to give themselves huge bonuses.

So so one of the things that we�ve said is, look, we understand that the
banking system
is fragile right now. And even though those
folks
made bad decisions, it could bring down the entire
economy
and affects towns like
Elkhart
, so we�re going to do something to strengthen the
banking system
. But, you know, you are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you pay taxpayers back. You can�t get corporate jets. You can�t go take a trip to
Las Vegas
or go down to the
Super Bowl
on the taxpayers� dime. There�s got to be some accountability and some responsibility, and that�s something that I intend to impose as president of the
United States
.

Right there. All right,
young lady
right here. Right here in the striped sweater. My name is
Tara
. You�ve come to our county and asked us to trust you, but those that you have appointed to your cabinet are not trustworthy and can�t handle their own budget and taxes. No, no, this is a legitimate this is a legitimate question. Go ahead.
I�m I�m
one of those that thinks you need to have a beer with
Sean Hannity
. So tell me why, from my side, we can� No, that�s OK.
That�s
OK. No, no, no, look, the I think this is a perfectly legitimate question. First of all, I appoint
I�ve
appointed hundreds of people, all of whom are outstanding
Americans
who are doing a great job. There are a couple who had problems before they came into my administration, in
terms
of in
terms
of in
terms
of their taxes. Look, now the and I think that this is a legitimate criticism that people have made, because you can�t expect one set of
folks
to not pay their taxes when
everybody else
is paying theirs. So I think that�s a legitimate concern. I will tell you that the individuals at issue here, I know them personally and I think these were honest mistakes, and I made sure they were honest mistakes beforehand. And one of the things
I�ve
discovered is, if if you�re not going to appoint anybody who�s ever made a mistake in your life, then you�re not going to have anybody taking your jobs.

So but but having said that, what I did acknowledge and I said it publicly on just about every
TV station
is something that you probably, you know, sometimes don�t hear from politicians, which is I made a mistake and that because I don�t want to send the signal that there are two sets of rules. Now, understand, though, I think something that should also be mentioned is that we�ve set up an unprecedented set of ethics rules in my
White House
where we are we are not we are not everybody will acknowledge that we have set up the highest standard ever for lobbyists not working in the administration. People who work in my administration aren�t going to be able to go out the
revolving door
and start working for some
lobbying firm
and lobbying the
White House
.
Republicans
and
Democrats
have acknowledged that this is a very
high bar
that we�ve set for ourselves. We have not been perfect, but we are changing the culture in
Washington
, and it�s going to take some time. Now, with respect to
Sean Hannity
, I didn�t know that he had invited me for a beer.

You know, but I will take that under advisement.

Generally, his opinion of me does not seem to be very high, but but
I�m
always good for a beer.
So�

All right. Let me let me get this side of the room, and then
I�ll I�ll I�ll
come back in. I want to make sure
I�m
not looking too biased on one side here. That gentleman right up there in the corner there. You, yes. Thanks,
President Obama
. It�s like
everybody else
has said, it�s an honor to be here. My name is
Jason Ward
, and
I�m
a local attorney here in town, but
I�ve
seen a lot of the effects that the
manufacturing industries
had here, and there�s been a lot of discussion with respect to
green jobs
and environmental issues. And this area has been one of the areas that�s been mentioned about maybe retooling to take advantage of the
green revolution
. And I guess the question is, with respect to the stimulus bill, is are there provisions in there that address
green job
issues, improvement of environmental issues, and those type of matters? Absolutely. It�s a great question. And let me describe for you just some of the things that we have in there. Under this plan, we would double the production of
alternative energy
, double it from where it is right now. So that�s point
number
one.

Point
number
two point
number
two. There is
money
allocated in this plan to develop the new battery technologies that will allow not just cars, but potentially
R.V.s
, as well, to be to move into the next generation of plug-in hybrids that get much better
gas mileage
, that will wean ourselves off of dependence on Middle Eastern oil, and we�ll improve our environment and lessen the potential effects of
greenhouse gases
and
climate change
. We also have put in
money
that provide for the weatherization of millions of homes across the
country
. Now, this is an example of where you get a
multiplier effect
. If you allocate
money
to weatherize homes, the homeowner gets the benefit of lower
energy
bills. You right away put people back to work, many of whom in the
construction industry
and in the housing industry are out of work right now. They are immediately put to work doing something. You can train
young people
as apprentices to start getting training in
home construction
through weatherization. And you start reducing
energy costs
for the nation as a whole. So there are there are
billions
of dollars in this plan allocated for moving us towards a new
energy
future. Now,
I�ll
be honest with you. Some of the critics of the plan have said that�s pork. I don�t understand their criticism. Their basic argument is, well, that�s you�re trying to make policy instead of just doing short-term stimulus. Well, my whole attitude is, if we�re going to spend
billions
of dollars to create jobs anyway, then why wouldn�t we want to create jobs in things like
clean energy
that create a better economic future for us over the long term? That�s just that�s
common sense
to me.

That�s
common sense
to me. And that is especially important for the
Midwest
, because, if you
think about it
, the
auto industry
,
R.V.
industry,
transportation industry
is so important to us here in the
Midwest
, if we don�t use this crisis as an opportunity to start retooling, then we will never catch up and be able to
compete
effectively against Japanese automakers, Korean automakers, and we will find ourselves continuing to slide. This should be an opportunity for us to retool. And and so, you know, I am going to make this a big priority over the next few days, as we�re trying to reconcile the
House
and the
Senate bill
, getting
folks
in
Congress
to understand that this is one of the best possible investments that we can make. Let me give you another example of long-term investments that are in this plan.
I�ve
been criticized because I suggested that, as part of this plan, we should improve
information technology
in the
health care system
. Now, here�s the reason that I want to do it: Not only will it immediately create jobs in the
health care industry
, as well as in
information technologies
people who are programmers, people who are
information systems
specialists but it will also put everybody�s
medical records
in a computerized form that will reduce
medical errors
and cut down the
costs
of
health care
over the long term. One of our biggest problems is that
health carecosts
keep on going up even when everything else is going down. You know that in your own lives. The average family premium has doubled over the last eight years, even though your wages and your incomes haven�t doubled. If we keep on going down that path,
health care
is going to gobble up everything. So what
I�ve
said is, look, if we�re going to be spending
money
anyway creating jobs, why not create jobs getting these
medical records
set up in a way that drives down
health carecosts
over the long term? Some of my critics have said, �That�s, you know,
social policy
. That�s not stimulus.�
Look
, doesn�t it make sense, if we�re going to spend this
money
, to solve some big problems that have been around for decades? That�s what we�re trying to do; that�s what�s in this
package
; and that�s why I hope
Congress
supports it. All right. It�s a it�s a it�s a
young lady
�s turn. This
young lady
right here. Hold on one second. Let�s get a mike to you so everybody can here you. Have you got a mike?
I�m Kathy Whitaker
from
South Bend
, and I work as a foreclosure intervention counselor. And there is a bill pending that indicates that they�re trying to get the authority for judges to go in and mandate a change in those mortgages. Does that do you think that�s something that will pass? Let me let me talk to you about the housing foreclosure issue, because this was raised by this gentleman, as well. We have to give homeowners some help and some relief. You�ve got home foreclosures that have gone up astronomically during this recession, during this downturn. It is both a cause and effect of the downturn. If we don�t do anything about stabilizing the
housing market
, it is going to be much more difficult for us to recover. So we are going to be unveiling a series of plans to help not only homeowners who are at the brink of foreclosure, but there are a lot of homeowners who are making their mortgage payments every day, but they�ve seen the value of their homes decline so badly that now their mortgage is more than the value of their home, which
means
that, even when
interest rates
are low, it�s very hard to refinance your home to take advantage of those low rates, because a bank will say, �Well, you actually owe more than the home is worth.� So we�re going to be doing a lot of work on this. Now, one potential provision that has been discussed that
I�m
supportive of, but is not in this
package
it will be on a separate
package
is the idea that, right now, if you have a second home or a third home or a fourth home or a fifth home, and and you go bankrupt, then the judge can modify the
terms
of your mortgage on your second, third, fourth, fifth home. So if you�re worth $100 billion, you bought all these houses, and suddenly you went bankrupt, you would still be able to protect your second, third, fourth, fifth home. But, if you are like most people, including me, and you�ve got one
house
�

Now, keep in mind, the
house
that
I�m
in, in
D.C.
,
I�m
just borrowing that. That�s the people�s
house
.

So
I�m
just
I�m
a guest in
Washington
in the people�s
house
. My
house
is on the
South Side of Chicago
that I own.

But if you just have one
house
, it turns out that, under current law, you can�t modify that mortgage if you are in bankruptcy. If you if you just can�t make the payments, the judge is not authorized to modify that that loan so that let�s say the banks have to take a
little
bit less, but you are still making some payments. Now, that makes no sense. What that�s doing is it�s forcing a lot of people into foreclosure who potentially would be better off, and the bank would be better off, and the community would be better off if they�re at least making some payments, but they�re not able to make all the payments necessary.

So this is a piece of legislation so this is a piece of legislation that
I I
strongly support. We�re going to try to make that part of our housing
package
so that remember, I said, this
recoverypackage
and reinvestment
package
is just one leg of the stool. We�ve got to deal with the
credit crisis
; we�ve got to deal with housing. There are a whole bunch of other steps that we�re going to have to take, and this is one of them. All right? The gentleman right back here in the tie. Yep. Thank you,
President Obama
.
I�m Bill Keith
from
SunRise Solar
. I manufacture a solar-powered attic fan right here in
Indiana
.

Excellent. Believe me, a lot of people encouraged me to go to
China
years ago to manufacture my product so I could live a
little
higher on the hog, and I decided to keep my friends and neighbors employed and make it right here.

That�s right. Excellent. And
I I
wanted you to know that we�ve got people in this row
Eric
,
Laura
,
Terry
,
Denise
,
Jessie Carbanda
up in the balcony, and
Gary Friemuller
, and these are people we�re running dream companies right now that are employing
American people
on our soil and keeping jobs here. What we need is a
little
more friendly environment from the
utility companies
, so if I want to put a
solar system
on my
house
, I can get more than nine cents on the dollar for the electric I feed back into it. Yes. Some legislation like that would be helpful. And what my stance has been is, if the
federal government
mandates that the
utility companies
have to produce at least so much
renewable energy
, then all of our rates are going to go up. So
I�ve
been trying to encourage my own
state
to be more proactive and adopt a
renewable energy
standard renewable electric standard on their own. What do you see in the pipeline for companies like mine? Because it�s hard. I I don�t get any tax, you know those of you out there that think that the prior administration or someone gave us some kind of benefits for being a green company here, there are none. I mean, there�s no real incentive for us to do what we�re doing, so we�re doing it out of passion right now. So we appreciate all that you�re saying about renewables. Good. Well, let me three things that we can do, just very specific, and we can do them quickly. And then there�s a fourth thing that we can do that will take a
little
bit more time.
Number
one is that we need to pass a
renewable energy
standard. And what that does is just for people who aren�t sort of experts in the field, it�s pretty simple. What it says is, to the various utilities, it says, �You need to get 15 percent or 20 percent of your
energy
from
renewable sources
.� And once you set that benchmark, then what happens is, is that people who are producing
renewable energy
solar or wind or hydrothermal what they�re able to do then is count on a pretty solid market that they�re going to be able to sell their
energy
to. And that
means
investors then will say, �You know what? This is actually a pretty good thing for us to invest in.� And it
over time
, what that
means
is, is that more and more people invest in
renewable energy
, which
means
the technology gets better, the research and development improves, and you start growing that sector. So a
renewable energy
standard is very important. That�s point
number
one. Point
number
two is, we should be providing
tax credits
and loan guarantees to
renewable energy
. That there are some in in place currently that have are on the verge of lapsing. And we have to act much more forcefully in
terms
of making sure that those are in place. That�s the second thing. The third thing that we should be doing is working with utilities all across
America
, including here in
Indiana
, to do what some utilities are already doing in
California
. And this is a really smart thing. What they do is, the utility is able to make
money
not just on how much
energy
it sells, but it�s also able to make
money
on how much
energy
its customers save. So you can structure how they charge your electricity bill so that, if you started installing a
solar panel
, that you would actually, as you point out, be able to sell some of that
energy
back when you�re not using it. You get to put some
money
in your pocket, and the utilities are rewarded for encouraging you to do that. Right now, they don�t have enough incentive to do it because they�re making
money
the more
energy
you use, whereas what we want to do is make give them incentives so that they�re constantly telling you how you can save
energy
. The fourth thing and this is the thing that�s going to take a
little
bit longer is we�ve got to improve
basic science
research and development. When it comes to solar, when it comes to wind, the the price has gone down, but, generally speaking, it�s still a
little
more expensive than
fossil fuels
, coal,
natural gas
, and so forth. So we�ve got to improve the technology. And that�s why I want to make sure that we�re investing some
money
every year in the development of new
energy
technologies that will drive those
costs
down over the long term. The
country
that figures out how to make cheaper
energy
that�s also clean, that
country
is going to win the
economic competition
of the future.

And I want that to be the
United States of America.
That�s one of my commitments as president of the
United States
.

All right. All right, this part of the room�s been kind of neglected here. Let�s get that get that
young lady
right there. Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. My name�s
Erin Mendoza
, and I kind of had a question that went along with the gentleman over there. What are you going to do about enticing companies to stay here in the
United States
once we have them? A lot of local companies have gone overseas, you know, since I was born, sorry. And the
economy
here in
Elkhart
was at a high and is going down because companies are enticed to leave so, like the gentleman said, they can live higher on the hog. Well, look, I believe that the
United States
has the most productive workers. We�ve got the
best universities
and colleges. We�ve got the most dynamic, risk-taking
economy
and innovative
economy
of any in the world. So we can
compete
against anybody. But we�ve got some problems, both in
terms
of our failure to invest in what�s going to keep us competitive. We underinvest when it comes to
energy
, we just talked about. Our
health care system
is broken. And that�s a huge cost. A lot of employers who want to stay here find it very difficult to deal with the rising
costs
of
health care
for their employees, so fixing
health care
will actually make us more competitive. We�ve got a
tax code
that is too often skewed to encourage companies to move overseas. We still have laws on the books that give
tax breaks
to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. And I think it�s important for us to give
tax breaks
to companies that are investing right here in
Elkhart
and right here in the
United States of America.

Now now, having said all that, the single most important factor, I think, in whether or not companies are going to continue to locate here in
Elkhart
and around the
country
is, what are we doing about education? Because the quality the quality of the workforce is probably what most companies are going to pay the most attention to
over time
. There are going to be some companies that just ship jobs overseas because it�s low it�s low value-added work and they don�t need
skilled labor
. And if you don�t need
skilled labor
to make certain things, then you�re just going to find the cheapest place, and we�re never going to be able to
compete
against a
country
like
Bangladesh
when it comes to, you know, low-wage work. But what we should be looking for is, how do we encourage high- wage, high-value work? And there, the key is going to be how well we are training our workforce. That�s why, in this
recovery
and reinvestment
package
, we put
billions
of dollars not only to make sure that
school districts
who are getting hammered are able to keep their teachers, but also we have
money
in the
package
to make sure that we are retraining our teachers around math and science so that they are able to provide our
young people
what they need to
compete
in this new
global economy
. We have
money
to create new labs so that we�ve got science labs and the latest
Internet
connections into our schools so that they are part of this modern
economy
. We have
money
to revamp our
community colleges
which are a tremendous bridge for people who maybe need more training to get these new jobs of the future. Now,
I�ll
be honest with you. The
Senate
version cut a lot of these education dollars; I would like to see some of it restored. And over the next few days, as we�re having these conversations, we should talk about how we can make sure that we�re investing in education, because that�s what�s going to keep companies investing right here in the
United States
over the long term. All right? Now there�s a young man right in front of you here who�s yes, you. In fact, I just I just received a note that this is the last question. Oh, don�t be mad at me. I would love to stay here for a long time, but
I�ve
got to go back to
Washington
and convince everybody to get moving on this
package
.

And this is a good place to end, with with our future here. What�s your name? My name is
James
.
James
, how old are you?
I�m
9 years old. OK, fantastic. What�s your question? What are you going to do to help our schools? Well, you know, I just I just started talking about that, so,
James
, as I said, I think that we�ve got to rebuild our schools to make sure that they�re
state
-of-the-art. We also have to make sure that we are training new teachers and retraining some of the existing teachers so that they�ve got the best possible skills. We also are going to have to reform how we do business in some of the schools. I think it�s very important for us to have
high standards
. I think we�ve got to we�ve got to do a better job, though, of assessing performance in schools.
No Child Left Behind
needs to be reworked in a more effective way.

But the last thing that we need in schools do with schools has nothing to do with
money
. It has everything to do with parents, because�

�
because we can
put as much
money
as we want into schools. If parents don�t have an attitude that says, �I�m going to make sure my child does my homework, that
I�m
meeting with the teacher to find out what�s going on,� if all of us aren�t instilling a sense of excellence in our kids, then they�re not going to be able to
compete
. And that
meansyoung people
like you, you�re going to have to you�re going to have to work a
little
harder.

ELKHART, Ind. — President Barack Obama made a campaign-style pitch for his massive economic stimulus plan, traveling Monday to a hard-hit industrial city in hopes of winning support for a package that has become the first big test since taking office.

Obama participated in a town hall-style meeting in Elkhart, Ind., and plans to hold another one Tuesday in Fort Myers, Fla., and one Thursday in Peoria, Ill. All are cities that are suffering particularly hard times.

The Senate's $838 billion stimulus legislation narrowly passed later in the day. Harder work for Obama and the Democrats comes in the days ahead, when the House and Senate attempt to reconcile differences in their two versions.

On Monday night, Obama made his case before the entire nation in his first prime-time news conference of presidency. He pressed the Senate and House to come to agreement quickly on a final stimulus bill and send it to him within days.

Obama and Democratic Party leaders had hoped to have a bill ready for the president's signature by Feb. 16 — a deadline that grows more challenging by the day.

The president defended his plan against Republican criticism that it is loaded with pork-barrel spending and will not create jobs.

“The plan is not perfect,” the president told reporters. “No plan is. I can’t tell you for sure that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act will only deepen this crisis as well as the pain felt by millions of Americans.”

Obama said 90 percent of the jobs created by the plan would be in the private sector, rebuilding crumbling roads, bridges and other aging infrastructure.

The president's trip to Indiana came as Obama plunges into a difficult challenge early in his leadership, struggling to get a divided Congress to agree on his economic recovery package while pitching a new plan to ease loans to U.S. consumers and businesses.

"We can't afford to wait. We can't wait to see and hope for the best," Obama said in Elkhart, a community reeling from job losses. "We can't posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us in into this mess in the first place."

"You know, look, it's not perfect," the president conceded. "But it is the right size, it is the right scope. Broadly speaking, it has the right priorities to create jobs that will jump-start our economy and transform the economy for the 21st century."

At the Treasury Department, Secretary Timothy Geithner delayed the unveiling of a new bailout framework for financial institutions from Monday to Tuesday to let the administration focus on the stimulus legislation.

Geithner is considering steps to broaden the use of a new lending facility at the Federal Reserve, provide government guarantees to help banks deal with their troubled assets, and continue direct infusion of capital into banks in exchange for securities and tougher accountability rules.

Amid the urgency created by nearly 600,000 new unemployed workers last month and new bank failures, Obama's economic prescriptions are coming under critical scrutiny by both Congress and the American public.

Video: August, 2008: Stumping in Elkhart
A new poll showed 67 percent of Americans approve of Obama's efforts on behalf of the stimulus plan, while a 31 percent give Republicans in Congress an approval rating. The Gallup poll also showed 51 percent of Americans agree that passing such a bill is critically important.

The House and Senate bills are about $7 billion apart in cost and overlap in numerous ways. But the Senate bill has a greater emphasis on tax cuts, while the House bill devotes more money to states, local governments and schools.

Two senators who played a leading role in shaping the $838 billion stimulus Senate bill said Monday it's the best that could be achieved under difficult circumstances and must be passed.

The pair — Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Ben Nelson — said they hope that differences between their version and the $827 billion House bill can be worked out in conference.

They spoke on the eve of a critical floor vote on the bill. The measure has attracted the support of Collins and two other Republicans in what supporters believe is enough strength to get it past a key procedural vote later Monday.

Appearing on NBC television, Collins conceded "the bill is not perfect." But she said the country is facing a crisis and doesn't need "a partisan divide."

Appearing with Collins on NBC, Evans said, "I think the things we have focused on will help turn this economy around."

The Senate bill is finely tuned. With only two or three Republicans on board, it is guaranteed, at most, 61 votes; the bill needs 60 votes in the 100-member body to advance and avoid procedural hurdles. Any change in the balance struck by the Senate bill could doom it.

Video: Senators: Stimulus plan will create jobs
The bank bailout proposal that Geithner will announce Tuesday also carries policy and political risks. Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for the financial sector last fall. But since then, lawmakers from both parties have been critical of how the Bush administration spent the first half of the money.

The Senate grudgingly agreed to give Obama access to the second half of the fund, but only after Obama promised to impose tougher conditions and to devote at least $50 billion of the fund to reducing mortgage foreclosures.

Officials said Geithner will not ask for more money for the program at this point. Instead, his plan is likely to include various approaches to loosening credit and helping banks deal with troubled, mortgage-backed assets.

While in Elkhart, Obama also answered a question from a woman about failed Cabinet picks who withdrew amid controversy over their tax returns.

Obama said he has taken responsibility for the perception that some people shouldn't have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Two nominees, including Tom Daschle, who was in line to be secretary of Health and Human Services, withdrew from consideration after revelations of delinquent taxes.

But he added that the mistakes were honest ones and said: "If you're not going to appoint anybody who's ever made a mistake in your life, then you're not going to have anybody taking your jobs."

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